Emirati companies take home top honours at Middle East HR Awards
Emirati companies and business talent stole the limelight at the 2016 Middle East HR Excellence Awards. The ceremony took place last night at InterContinental Hotel and is the region’s most prestigious celebration of HR and talent development professionals.
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi took home the Nationalisation Initiative of the Year award for their efforts in attracting and retaining Emirati talent. “We consider the recruitment and development of local talent a priority, aligning with the government vision of creating a sustainable healthcare sector where UAE Nationals play a leading role, we are proud to have achieved our goal for this year.” said Yaser Obaid, Chief Human Capital Officer.
Emirati Director of HR at Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Mona Al Hebsi was named HR Professional of the Year, the evening’s highest accolade for individual categories. Commenting on her win Mona said, “I dedicate this award to my Jumeirah colleagues and especially to my HR team for their continuous support. I’m very proud of the successful people interventions we ran this year and I believe that behind every great leader is a great team.” Her team at Jumeirah Creekside Hotel was also awarded the HR Tear of the Year award.
Innovation in Employee Engagement, one of the Awards most competitive categories, was won by local bank, National Bank of Fujairah. “At NBF, creating a stimulating and engaging work environment for our employees is a core element of the bank’s vision. We believe that employees who are both motivated and equipped to get the job done are more likely to outperform expectations and less likely to leave the organisation”, said Abdulla Aleter, Head of HR on the important of an engaged workforce in the bank.
NBF was not the only bank to bag and award last night. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank won an award for its innovation in learning and talent development. “At ADCB investing in our people is critical to bringing our brand to life and making it a real and sustainable proposition to our customers and our investors,” said Ali Darwish, Group Head of HR at the bank.
The winner of the Employer of the Year Award was RSA Logistics, a logistics and transportation company based in Dubai. Commenting on their win, Abhishek Ajay Shah, Co-founder and Managing Director said, “RSA Logistics is honoured to be named Employer of the Year. We strive to create an enriching, value-based culture and environment of learning, engagement and endless possibility for our team to help them achieve personal growth. We are very proud of our team, and will continue to push ourselves to deliver the best for them.”
Local business conglomerate, Al Futtaim won big last night and took home two important awards in Executive and Leadership Development, and Recruitment and Employer Branding, while Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco won an award for its effective utilisation of HR technology and analytics, one of the newer categories introduced at the HR Awards last year.
Awarding emerging talent within the industry, the event recognised Rohit Manucha from Dunia Finance who won HR’s Rising Star Award.